Speculating on the future of hybrid vehicles is difficult to do for a number of reasons. The first of these reasons is that speculating on the future of any industry by necessity requires that industry to have a strong past that can be used to extrapolate a path to the future. As mentioned above, hybrid vehicle research and development does not have a strong past of any reasonable length of time and that means that taking that past into account really won’t help that much in terms of figuring out where these cars might go in the future.
The second problem with this type of speculation is quite simply that any amount of speculation related to hybrid electric vehicles might be wiped out completely if the industry goes bottom up.
The main reason for this is that the gasoline engine’s dominant position in the market is being slowly challenged by two competitors. Not only does it have to deal with the PHEV challenge, it also has to deal with the EV challenge. Any technological breakthrough that helps hybrids will also help electric vehicles whether that is the more compact battery, the better bulk storage system or anything else that was discussed as a potential solution to one of the problems from the previous section.
Therefore, a big breakthrough for the PHEV could actually make full electricity a much more attractive option and that in turn might sink the hybrid market before it even has a chance to float. Of course, it could be the case that the transition from gasoline to PHEV to EV still takes place and hybrid automobiles do have their decade in the sun. Ultimately, there is really no way to know which way that wind will blow with any amount of certainty, but the future of hybrid vehicles does depend a lot on how electric vehicles mature and grow over the same period of time.
With that in mind, there are some interesting points worth discussing in greater detail about the future of hybrid vehicles and that starts with battery technology. Just as is the case with electric vehicles, the battery technology of hybrids is something that can become very effective very quickly.
There are multiple industries looking at developing better battery technology as better batteries can store energy which in turn would allow energy sources like solar and wind energy to become baseline power generators, replacing fossil fuels like coal and natural gas in the process.
These types of industries are highly impressive in terms of their drive to develop better batteries and while the goals of PHEV research are a bit different since they are looking for less bulk rather than better storage, it is also true that one can be used as the pathway to the other. Better storage will mean that the same amount can be stored with fewer battery cells which in turn means that the overall battery bulk will be lowered as well. Since PHEV researchers do share that common ground with many other groups of academics, this is one area where we might begin to see lots of progress within the next few years. Electric vehicle researchers are also working on better battery types which could go a long way towards resolving one of the main problems that PHEVs currently face.
One option that has not existed within the PHEV marketplace for a long time but which might be brought back is the idea of the driver being able to choose between the electric engine and the gasoline engine. If you recall the part of this article that dealt with the history of hybrid cars, you might remember that some of the earlier Audi hybrids actually did offer this option to the driver, but it was an idea that was eventually discontinued.
Modern PHEVs like the Toyota Prius will start off with the electric engine on default but then based on the acceleration curve and the performance needed from the vehicle will switch back and forth between the gasoline engine and the electric engine. This is a good system because it allows the driver to operate the vehicle in the same way that they would operate a normal car, getting the same acceleration while at the same time being able to save a lot of money on eventual gasoline expenses.
However, the introduction of an optional mode switch for the driver is something that would be interesting as well. The switch would be instantaneous at the flick of a switch or push of a button and it would allow the driver to use the electric car for all of their city driving, accepting the acceleration curve that the electric engine was able to provide. They could then switch to the gasoline engine only when they were out on the open highway to get better fuel mileage, giving them a better efficiency rating than any of today’s hybrids. That is an example of some basic change to PHEVs that could really make them much more attractive right now, but whether or not it will be brought back is another story entirely.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, you’ve read through this article completely and allowed the information contained in it to sink into your mind. You should now have a much better understanding of the concept of the hybrid vehicle, the different types of hybrids and more detailed information specifically about the plug-in hybrid vehicle or PHEV. If you don’t have this information, it is worth it for you to go back and reread the article in order to make sure that you have all the information that it offers.
What you do now is entirely your choice. You can file the information away for later use. You can start keeping tabs on the PHEV marketplace to see what new ideas are coming up. You can even go out and start shopping for a PHEV right now to reduce your gasoline consumption and subsequent cost. You’ve got the power of information and now you should try your best to put that information to good use.